Exploring Pakistani Physicians' Knowledge and Practices Regarding High Alert Medications: Findings and Implications

Evaluation of knowledge and practices about administration and regulations of high alert medications among hospital pharmacists in Pakistan: findings and implications

BACKGROUND

A death of a nine months old child in Pakistan following the rapid administration of potassium chloride raised serious concerns on the awareness of appropriate use of high alert medications (HAMs) among healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study aimed to ascertain HAMs-related knowledge among hospital pharmacists in Pakistan.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study using exponential non-discriminative snowball sampling was conducted among hospital pharmacists in healthcare settings in Punjab, Pakistan. A validated study tool was used to determine knowledge on administration, regulation, and practices related to the HAMs. Barriers to conducting HAMs training in the hospitals were assessed from an open-ended question. All quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 while the content analysis was performed on the qualitative data.

RESULTS

A total of 202 hospital pharmacists were included in the study. The mean knowledge score for HAMs administration and regulation were 5.86 ± 1.89 (95% CI 5.60-6.12) and 7.25 ± 1.70 (95% CI 7.02-7.49), respectively. Approximately half of the respondents (49.5%) achieved scores ≥ 70%, demonstrating sufficient knowledge of HAMs. In the multivariable-adjusted model, increasing age and work experience were found to be the positive predictors of good HAMs knowledge. The mean practice score was 36.42 ± 1.97 (95% CI 34.05-38.77), with 62.4% of pharmacists following good HAMs-related practices. We identified several barriers to conducting HAMs training through qualitative analysis. These barriers included lack of knowledge, poor attitude and behavior of medical and paramedical staff, false beliefs, lack of active support by hospital administration, lack of cooperation between HCPs, lack of opportunities, heavy workload, insufficient human resources, financial constraints, and lack of motivation.

CONCLUSIONS

A significant proportion of the hospital pharmacists had unsatisfactory knowledge and practices of HAMs. These findings underscore that training on HAMs should be conducted periodically as a part of hospital-based pharmacy education to maximize drug safety.

Call for Decision Support for High-Alert Medication Administration Among Pediatric Nurses: Findings From a Large, Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Background: Children have a higher risk of medication errors (MEs) than adults. The Institute for Safe Medication Practice (ISMP) defined high-alert medications (HAMs) as a group of medications that could cause significant patient harm or even death when they are used in error. Nurses are actively involved in and responsible for patient care, especially in medication administration. This study aimed to estimate the knowledge, decision-making basis and confidence and decision support needs related to HAMs among pediatric nurses in China.

Methods: A web-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted among pediatric nurses who were recruited from 14 member hospitals of the Pediatric Nursing Alliance of National Children’s Medical Center in China using a convenient sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered instrument composed of four parts: the demographic characteristics of participants, participants’ knowledge about HAMs, participants’ self-evaluation of the basis of and confidence in decision-making, and decision support needs regarding HAMs. Among the participants, the maximum score for HAM knowledge was 100. All data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 20.0.

Results: A total of 966 nurses participated in this study. Nurses were found to have insufficient knowledge about HAMs, with a median (IQR) of 75.0 (70.0, 80.0), out of a maximum score of 100. Knowledge about HAM administration was significantly higher than that about HAM regulation, with a p value < 0.001. The three lowest-scoring items concerned HAM regulation, and the “Treat fentanyl skin patches as a regulated narcotic” item obtained the lowest score, with only 1/5 of respondents answering it correctly. Most participants reported that their basis for decision-making about HAMs was drug instructions (90.0%) or drug handbooks (81.9%) and evaluated their confidence in decision-making about HAMs as high or relatively high (84.6%). The decision-making difficulties when encountering HAMs focused on most stages of HAM administration, especially the appropriateness of prescriptions, checks, preparation and administration. The vast majority of participants assessed decision support as necessary or very necessary (92.0%), and the most popular options for decision support were computerized clinical decision support systems (46.4%) and real-time online communication with pharmacists (23.9%).

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated the inadequacies in HAM knowledge, the basis and difficulty of decision-making, and decision support needs regarding HAMs in Chinese pediatric nurses. Nurses need greater support in HAM administration, including not only training but also adequate technology, mutually beneficial interprofessional collaboration, and a positive institutional culture.